What is it about?
Diagnosing cystic fibrosis (CF) patients in South Africa, especially among non-white patients, is a significant challenge. The sooner patients are diagnosed, the better their outcomes. Early diagnosis is crucial, as it allows for treatment that can slow down the irreversible organ damage caused by the disease. Without this early intervention, South African CF patients face a significantly shorter life expectancy compared to patients in countries like Canada, Australia, and the United States.
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Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash
Why is it important?
South African cystic fibrosis (CF) patients have a life expectancy of < 21 years. At the other end of the spectrum, Canadian CF patients have a life expectancy of 52 years. Our proposal addresses some of the reasons South African patients die so young & what can be done about it.
Perspectives
The fact that non-European CF patients die younger (& sometimes much, much younger) than CF patients in Europe has always troubled me. If, for example, the same South African patients had been born in Europe or Canada, they could almost automatically expect to live about twice as long. Why should an accident of geography so drastically affect these kids' lives? Thinking about ways to solve this problem is part of how this paper came to be.
Dr Cheryl Stewart
University of the West Indies at Mona
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Cystic fibrosis in South Africa: A changing diagnostic paradigm, South African Medical Journal, July 2018, Health and Medical Publishing Group,
DOI: 10.7196/samj.2018.v108i8.13225.
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